Senate Panel's Stimulus Plan Includes $365 Billion in Spending

January 23, 2009

Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday released an
outline of a $365 billion economic stimulus plan, details of which
seem broadly similar to the House version made public last week.
The plan, which was put up on the committee's Web site Friday
evening, includes funding for infrastructure projects worth $140
billion, education and training worth $125 billion, $51 billion in
energy projects and approximately $ 25 billion in money to help those
worst affected by the economic downturn.

"We must respond to this crisis with all the weapons at our
disposal,"
Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, the chairman of the panel said in a
statement.
"If we fail to act, the situation will almost certainly worsen, and
the American people will continue to pay a heavy price."

The committee is expected to hold a hearing on the plan early
next week, possibly Tuesday, the same day the Senate Finance Committee
holds a hearing on the tax proposals in the Senate version of the
economic recovery plan.

Combined with the tax proposals, the topline figure for the
Senate and House plans are both $825 billion.

There are some differences between the Senate and House versions.
The Senate includes $9 billion in grants to extend broadband Internet
service to rural parts of the country versus the House's $6 billion.
And it includes only $5 billion to invest in health care
infrastructure to move patients'
health care records to an electronic basis. This is considerably less
than the $20 billion allocated by the House.

Due to the lack of detail in the Senate version, it is difficult
to discern some of the differences between the two plans. For example,
the House plan includes $11 billion to invest in the smart grid - an
effort to make the nation's power grid more efficient and green.

The Senate version makes no mention of the smart grid, but does
include $40 billion for the Department of Energy for "development of
clean, efficient, American energy."

The Senate summary includes $730 million in loans for small
businesses, amongst the worst-hit sectors of the U.S. economy by the
downturn.

A spokesman for the committee did not return phone calls seeking
clarification of the differences between the two plans.

The House is scheduled to take up its version of the stimulus
bill on the floor on Wednesday. There is no timing yet for the Senate
version to be debated in the chamber.

-By Corey Boles, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-6601;
[email protected]